The Vatican Information Service is a news service, founded in the Holy See Press Office, that provides information about the Magisterium and the pastoral activities of the Holy Father and the Roman Curia...[+]

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Friday, May 11, 2007

VATICAN CITY, MAY 11, 2007 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed Fr. Bernard Ginoux of the clergy of the archdiocese of Avignon, France, pastor of the parish of Orange and dean of Orange-Bollene, as bishop of Montauban (area 3,717, population 206,800, Catholics 160,600, priests 90, permanent deacons 7, religious 189), France. The bishop-elect was born in Chateaurenard, France in 1947 and ordained a priest in 1986.NER/.../GINOUX VIS 20070511 (70)

ARCHBISHOP CELESTINO MIGLIORE, HOLY SEE PERMANENT OBSERVER to the United Nations participated, on May 10, in the 15th session of the Commission on Sustainable Development, high level segment: "Turning Political Commitments into Action, Working together in Partnership."

COURAGEOUS AND RESPECTFUL EDUCATIONAL POLICIES to encourage a climate of dialogue and tranquillity was the theme of a talk delivered by Archbishop J. Michael Miller C.S.B., secretary of the Congregation for Catholic Education, during the 22nd Session of the Standing Conference of the European Ministers of Education, held in Istanbul, Turkey, on May 4 and 5.

MSGR. MICHAEL W. BANACH, HOLY SEE PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE to various international organizations in Vienna, Austria, delivered a talk entitled "It is ever more necessary to build a climate of confidence and real cooperation in the field of disarmament and of nuclear non-proliferation." His contribution came on May 1, during the 1st Preparatory Committee of the 7th Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, being held in Vienna from April 30 to May 11.

MARY ANN GLENDON, PRESIDENT OF THE PONTIFICAL ACADEMY of Social Sciences participated, on May 10, in the Informal Thematic Debate of the U.N. General Assembly Panel on Religion in Contemporary Society, and specifically on "Civilizations and the Challenge for Peace: Obstacles and Opportunities." Professor Glendon's talk was entitled: " Prospects for Cross-Cultural and Inter-Religious Relations in Contemporary Society.".../IN BRIEF/... VIS 20070511 (240)

VATICAN CITY, MAY 11, 2007 (VIS) - For the occasion of Benedict XVI's apostolic trip to Brazil, tomorrow, Saturday May 12, VIS will transmit a special bulletin dedicated to the canonization of Blessed Frei Galvao and to the Pope's meeting with Brazilian bishops..../.../... VIS 20070511 (50)

VATICAN CITY, MAY 11, 2007 (VIS) - Today in Sao Paulo's "Campo de Marte" field at 9.30 a.m. (2.30 p.m. in Rome), the Pope will preside at Mass during which he will canonize Blessed Antonio de Santa Ana Galvao O.F.M., known as Frei Galvao, who will thus become the first native-born Brazilian saint.

At 4 p.m. (9 p.m. in Rome), having bid farewell to his hosts at the monastery of Sao Bento, the Holy Father will meet and address Brazilian bishops in Sao Paulo's "da Se" cathedral.

At 6 p.m. local time, the Holy Father is due to depart by helicopter from Campo de Marte airport and fly to Aparecida, site of Brazil's most famous shrine which each year welcomes around eight million faithful.

The origins of the Aparecida shrine date back to the discovery of an image of the Virgin in the year 1717. Three fishermen, after various fruitless attempts at a catch, threw out their nets once more and drew up a small statue of Our Lady, dark in color and without a head. Casting their nets again, they discovered the head and, at the third attempt, drew in their nets full of fish. The three recognized in this event a sign of the divine protection of the Virgin. From that year on, veneration of Our Lady started to spread among the people who called her simply "Aparecida."

Having landed at the shrine's heliport Benedict XVI will go to the "Bom Jesus" missionary seminary where he will dine and spend the night.PV-BRAZIL/.../SAO PAULO:APARECIDA VIS 20070511 (270)

VATICAN CITY, MAY 10, 2007 (VIS) - Today shortly before 6 p.m. (11 p.m. in Rome), Benedict XVI arrived at the "Paulo Machado de Carvalho" municipal stadium of Pacaembu where he was welcomed by more than 40,000 young people. At the same time, tens of thousands of others followed the event on giant screens outside the stadium. The Pope then presided at the Liturgy of the Word during which passages from the Song of Songs were read out as images of Brazilian landscape were projected on the screens.

The Pope addressed the participants by quoting words used by John Paul II during his visit to the Mato Grosso in 1991: "Young people are the main protagonists of the third millennium. ... It is they who will decide the destiny of this new stage of humanity." Benedict XVI then added: "God's charity is infinite, and the Lord asks us, or rather he requires us, to expand our hearts so as to contain ever more love, goodness, and understanding for our fellows and for the problems that involve not only human coexistence but also the effective preservation and protection of the natural environment, of which we are all a part.

"Our woods have more life," added the Pope quoting from the Brazilian national anthem. "Do not let this flame of hope go out. ... The environmental devastation of the Amazon and the threat to the human dignity of its people call for greater commitment in various fields of social activity."

The Holy Father then turned to the central theme of his homily, the dialogue between Jesus and the rich young man as recounted in the Gospel of St. Matthew, the central point of which is the question: "What must I do to have eternal life?"

"This query," the Pope explained, "does not only concern the future. It does not concern only the question of what happens after death. Quite the contrary, there is a commitment in the present, here and now, that must guarantee authenticity and consequently the future. In a word, the query concerns the meaning of life and could therefore be expressed thus: what must I do in order for my life to have meaning?'."

Christ, "a Master Who does not deceive, ... invites us to see God in all things and all events, even where the majority of people see only the absence of God. He encourages the rich young man "to keep the Commandments ... at the foundation of which are grace and nature." They "stimulate us to do something towards our own self-fulfillment. To fulfil oneself through action is in fact, to become real."

"We hear talk of the fears of today's youth. These fears reveal an enormous lack of hope: fear of death; ... fear of failure for not having discovered the meaning of life; and fear of exclusion in the face of the bewildering pace of events and of communications. ... Yet when I look upon you young people present here ... I see you as Christ sees you: a gaze full of love and trust, in the certainty that you have found the true path. You are the youth of the Church. ... Be apostles to the young!"

"There exists, in the final analysis, an immense field of action in which social, economic and political questions are particularly important, so long as their source of inspiration is always the Gospel and the Church's social doctrine. The building of a more just and united, reconciled and peaceful society; the commitment to halt violence; initiatives aimed at promoting fullness of life, democratic order and the common good and, especially, those that seek to eliminate certain forms of discrimination that exist in Latin American society ... are not grounds for exclusion but for mutual enrichment."

The Holy Father called on young people to maintain "great respect for the Sacrament of Marriage," and "to respect one another during the period of courtship and engagement." He also highlighted how some of them "are called to a total and definitive sacrifice, consecrating themselves to God in the religious life ... and bearing witness to the hope of the heavenly Kingdom among all men and women."

"Youth is a form of wealth," said Benedict XVI returning to consider the dialogue between Jesus and the rich young man, "because it leads to the rediscovery of life as a gift and as a task." But the young man of the Gospel, "at the moment of the great choice, did not have the courage to wager everything on Jesus Christ, ... he realized that he lacked the generosity and this prevented him from complete fulfillment."

"Do not waste your youth," Pope Benedict concluded, "do not seek to flee it. ... Consecrate it to the ideals of faith and of human solidarity. You young people are not just the future of the Church and of humanity, as if you were trying to flee the present moment. On the contrary, you are the existing youth of the Church and of humanity. You are the young face ... without which the Church would be disfigured."PV-BRAZIL/YOUNG PEOPLE/PACAEMBU VIS 20070511 (860)

VATICAN CITY, MAY 10, 2007 (VIS) - The Pope began the second day of his apostolic trip to Brazil by celebrating a private Mass in the chapel of the monastery of Sao Bento in the city of Sao Paulo.

At 10.30 a.m. (3.30 p.m.) in Rome, he will pay a courtesy visit to Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, president of the Federal Republic of Brazil, in the "Palacio dos Bandeirantes," official residence of the governor of the State of Sao Paulo. The name of the palace comes from the groups of explorers, known as Bandeirantes, who in the 17th and 18th centuries penetrated the forests and the new territories of Latin America in search of gold and diamonds.

Returning to the monastery of Sao Bento, the Holy Father will meet with representatives from other Christian confessions and other religions present in Brazil.

Benedict XVI will then lunch at the monastery in the company of members of his entourage and of Archbishop Geraldo Lyrio Rocha of Mariana, Archbishop Luiz Soares Vieira of Manaus, and Bishop Dimas Lara Barbosa, auxiliary of Sao Sebastiao do Rio de Janeiro, respectively president, vice-president and secretary general of the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil.

In the afternoon, the Pope is scheduled to meet with thousands of young people in the "Paulo Machado de Carvalho" municipal stadium of Pacaembu, after which he will return to the monastery of Sao Bento to dine and spend the night.PV-BRAZIL/.../SAO PAULO VIS 20070510 (250)